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You are Invited to the South African Book Awards – 2023 to be hosted online on Tuesday, 3 October @ 12pm (South African Time).

These annual Book Awards recognize books that are popular with Booksellers and the public, and celebrate the creativity and skills of Authors, Publishers, and their support teams, who came together in the past year to entertain, educate, and inform us.

South Africa has a rich literary history, including 2 Nobel prizes for Literature. We encourage everyone  to read more, support our Authors and Publishers, and buy these and and books from their local Bookstores.

After a process of selection and voting the following have been shortlisted in the 4 categories below:

Fiction

> Doolhof by Rudie van Rensburg

> Mercy by Jackie Phamotse

> The End by Dudu Busani-Dube

> The Milk Tart Murders by Sally Andrew

Non-Fiction

> Faf: Through Fire by Faf du Plessis with Marco Botha

> Our Poisoned Land by Jacques Pauw

> The ANC Billionaires by Pieter du Toit

> The South African Air Fryer Cookbook by Louisa Holst

Children’s Books

> Donker Web by Fanie Viljoen

> My First African Adventure by Riaan Manser & Murray Williams

> The Wildest Dog and Other African Tales by Avril Van der Merwe

> Vetplantfeetjies by Antjie Krog and Ingrid de Kok

For more information:

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @nielsenbook

Visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SABookAwards

Or send us an email: marketing.book@nielseniq.com

RSVP to get the link to the Awards by emailing: marketing.book@nielsenip.com

Tan Twan Eng splits his time between Malaysia and South Africa. He came to SA to study for a Master’s degree in law at the University of Cape Town.

South Africa has a long and rich literary history. We need to protect and preserve it. The Copyright Amendment Bill threatens authors livelihoods by removing protections and placing minimal consequences for those who steal their intellectual and creative property.

Copyright Infringement is not a victimless crime. It is not the paper and ink you are paying for, but the “10 years” it takes to research, write, review, edit, and the lifetime before that developing the skills and art to tell a story in words.

‘Books need time’: Tan Twan Eng’s new novel opens door on history https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/23/books-need-time-tan-twan-engs-new-novel-opens-door-on-history

CONVERSATIONS
Tan Twan Eng on the ‘small human events’ that shape his powerful novels
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-09-30-tan-twan-eng-on-the-small-human-events-that-shape-his-powerful-novels/

Shared by the South African Booksellers Association in the interest of promoting reading and protecting Authors rights.

The South African Booksellers Association would like to extend its condolences on the passing of Mr Hargraves to his wife Maureen, son Richard and the Hargraves family.

The Hargraves have been actively involved in book selling, the Association and specifically the Library Sector for many decades.

At this time we wish the family, their friends and the team at Hargraves Library Services peace, forbearance and patience.

The Education Sector
Hentie Gericke

The academic year won’t push into 2021. The school year for grades R to
11 will complete on 15 December 2020 with a short break between 26 and 30 October. The new terms are Term 3: 24 August – 23 October and Term 4: 2 November – 15 December.

Matric exams will also be concluded by 15 December, the department said, with marking expected to be done by 22 January 2021, and the results released on 23 February 2021.

The new school year will commence on 25 January 2021 for teachers – and for pupils a few days later.

In the Eastern Cape, Mary Bothma reports: “Schools with own funding are requesting quotations for budget purposes since August, and we find that they are careful and cost sensitive in what they are ordering. We find that some schools are opting to replenish textbooks although they had introduced tablets which they are phasing in”. 

In Gauteng, Johnny Koster reports: Covid-19 made everything slow, confused and late. Schools can’t be visited. Booksellers make use of emails and phone calls to schools.

In KwaZulu-Natal Guru Redhi references the “new normal” and that Booksellers have sadly expressed like most industries, they are in survival mode and one can only hope that as the economy gradually opens up, turnover and profitability would improve. 

In the Western Cape online ordering has gone live from 1 June – 12 June 2020 for the ordering of Top Up CAPS textbooks for grades 1 – 12 for 2021. Alternatively the school can still continue to order their textbooks from their booksellers should they not order online within the stipulated timeframe. 

While scholars may be under pressure to not loose this academic year, very interesting times lie ahead since this pandemic has clearly demonstrated how vulnerable our education system is.

The Digital Sector
Melvin Kaabwe

When lockdown restrictions were eased after SABA engagements with Government, fewer customers flocked to Bookstores than to Liquor retailers! Strange times indeed! 

Online sales of physical books are continuing to grow but less rapidly, and likely peaked in August. The sale of e-books was higher than usual across Academic and General by ±20%. Some publishers offered materials for free as a social response to the pandemic. Smaller stores and independents adjusted their websites for e-commerce and acquired social media shopping carts  for acquiring orders and as payment gateways and they used local courier services or even their own cars to deliver putting further pressure on their margins. Exclusive Books’ delivery was through UberEats reflecting that customers requesting delivery is up to 40% higher than for the same period the previous year for the chains.

Most University librarians were under some pressure to provide prescribed and reference materials during the pandemic to address the distance learning and new normal of mixed modalities. Some municipal libraries have highlighted their partnering with e-Library platforms to serve patrons online.

Streaming and rental services providers are uploading more local content. Perlago, a streaming service for books similar to Netflix’s style of all-you-can-eat content for a set monthly fee, is gaining traction.

Independent stores also offered digital vouchers for use online and also for future use to keep customer loyalty during the pandemic. Van Schaik Rewards Programme mobile app was a similar initiative for students.

Virtual bookfairs, book-launches, author interviews and online book clubs are viable alternatives to in-person events during the pandemic and SABA’s e-profile has grown proportionately. @SABooksellers has a following of more than 2 000 on Twitter, which means SABA is an influencer. The digital newsletter and magazine provide further impetus to drive traffic to the SABA website.

In the first round (of three) the SABookseller’s Survey is underway. Members have already begun returning the questionnaires with inputs from SABA, PASA and the SABDC for collation and tabulation by the University of Pretoria Department of Informatics. The objective is to provide trends and insights at an affordable rate for SABA. 

SA Booksellers Online Course has had it’s first “graduates” complete all modules this year.

Catching the crest of the wave has necessitated many to think digital but, this has provided some respite from the storm and enabled ongoing business in these strange times.